Brindisa Tapas Kitchens eyes new opening for 2017
Spanish restaurant group Brindisa Tapas Kitchens aims to open another London restaurant next year.
The company, founded by Monika Linton and run in conjunction with finance director and shareholder Ratnesh Bagdai, has recently revamped its brand, name and menus, and last month relaunched is London restaurant Tramontana as Tapas Brindisa Shoreditch.
The group has four Tapas Brindisa restaurants in London, including the original in London Bridge near Borough Market, as well as in South Kensington and Soho. It also runs Morada Asador in London's Rupert Street and La Bellvitja in Barcelona, Spain.
Bagdai said that although he did not want to roll the brand out, he was considering another London site in 2017 and was keen on King's Cross or the City.
"We don't ever want to be a chain but the Brindisa brand is very strong," he said. "London Bridge has been open for 12 years and is still enjoying like-for-like percentage growth, and sometimes it is double digits."
"We will open another one next year I am sure but it is a passion and a business not just to us but to our staff. I love King's Cross as an area as well as the City. There are a few individuals working for us who would love a Monday to Friday rota and if we can find a simple formula with a simple small site Monday to Friday in the City, with great wines, great cheeses, great charcuterie, obviously great food, we are going to do it. But I do not go out of my way to look for Brindisa sites. I don't want to and our board doesn't want to but we have got a very strong team and business, debt free."
Bagdai, who is also backing the recently opened Jikoni fronted by chef Ravinder Bhogal on London's Blandford Street, has recently put more of his focus into Brindisa, having exited the business he founded with Mark Hix when Hix entered a joint venture agreement with hospitality business WSH.
Bagdai and Hix opened Hix Oyster & Chop House in Farringdon, London in 2008, having worked together for several years at Caprice Holdings.
Mark Hix creates joint venture with WSH to fuel expansion of restaurant group >>
Ravinder Bhogal partners with Ratnesh Bagdai for debut restaurant >>
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